NBC is banking on a live retelling of the Wizard of Oz story in musical form, an adaptation of the 1975 Broadway Musical “The Wiz,” to break through the clutter of broadcast, streaming and DVR options. On Dec. 3, “The Wiz Live!” will have an early curtain in the Mountain time zone, 6-9 p.m. Thursday on KUSA-Channel 9.

In the over-crowded entertainment landscape, where broadcasters compete with Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, On-demand content and screens everywhere, all the time, a live “event” is the rare thing that can spark widespread, in-the-moment interest. Sports telecasts and awards shows cash in on the live aspect. Musicals aim to follow suit. The industry even has a terrible word for the push to capture audiences through live special productions: they aim to “eventize” TV offerings.

“The Wiz Live!” specifically uses an exclamation point to emphasize that the action is not pre-taped (although the music will be).

NBC knows social media is a key ingredient in drawing a crowd these days, and the Twitter-verse comes alive to boost attention during live events. Part of the draw is the knowledge that anything can go wrong.

If an actor flubs a line or misses a cue, if a prop fails or a piece of scenery falls, the blogosphere can be relied upon to go wild. That buzz, in turn, is expected to drive more eyeballs to what the networks call “the mothership,” the old-fashioned TV delivery of their product.

The communal element of a nation watching a live TV production in real time, a throwback to the early days of the medium, gives it added cachet. But the ratings have gone off a cliff since Carrie Underwood’s Maria in “The Sound of Music Live!” drew 18.6 million viewers. Allison Williams’ turn as the boy who won’t grow up in “Peter Pan Live!” drew about half that, 9.1 million viewers.

We’ll see if the novelty of a live stage broadcast works magic this year for Queen Latifah (as the Wiz), Mary J. Blige (Evillene, the Wicked Witch of the West), Uzo Aduba (Glinda the Good Witch), David Alan Grier (the Cowardly Lion), Ne-Yo (the Tin Man), Elijah Kelley (the Scarecrow), Common (Gatekeeper of the Emerald City) and Stephanie Mills (who originated the role of Dorothy in The Wiz, as Aunt Em) in “The Wiz Live!”

In simpler times, in an age with Mary Martin and without Twitter, “Peter Pan” seemed more magical. I love a musical, and I hope TV networks can keep producing them, but a two-hour version of this classic might have felt more energetic.

“Peter Pan is the sun and the moon and the stars,” the story goes. But “Peter Pan Live” was a mixed bag. Better and much campier than last year’s “Sound of Music Live,” but not Broadway caliber. Brave, but not something we can’t wait to watch again next year.

Allison Williams won’t make us forget Mary Martin, but she can be proud of her smooth performance as Peter, the boy who wouldn’t grow up, in NBC’s live production. She pulled it off, but the whole was slick rather than enchanting, well rehearsed rather than goosebump-y. Christopher Walken, at times seeming fatigued or perhaps tired of the show itself, went full Walken on Captain Hook. He missed some lines, and a teacup fell off Williams head, but there were no real flubs. Just enough to remind us this was live theater on TV, art that takes chances.

Neverland, the ship and the Darling home were beautiful set designs. The moving parts, opening to allow flying (actors and cameras), were clever; the digital effects (shadow and Tinkerbell) never failed, and the whole thing went off without a hitch. So why didn’t it feel more enchanting?

The length, for starters. In the theater, “Pan” runs two hours. Here, with padding for all the commercials necessary to pay for the big production, it ran three — a fun start, slow middle and end — with impossible Pan-related Walmart advertising throughout. New songs didn’t add much, a live dog was a nice touch, but the overall it seemed a very polished technical experiment instead of an exciting artistic endeavor. The message beamed through: “I am youth, I am joy, I am freedom.” Along with that Oedipal weirdness and gender confusion, it offered hope. It never made us not want to clap for Tink. And that was good enough.

Allison Williams, who plays Marnie on “Girls,” has been cast in the title role of NBC’s “Peter Pan Live,” to air Dec. 4. She will star in the live staging of the musical opposite Christopher Walken, previously announced as Captain Hook.

Williams, daughter of Brian Williams and a classically trained singer who has performed on HBO’s “Girls” and elsewhere, will take on the iconic role originated in 1954 by Mary Martin.

It was rumored that Kristin Bell had been offered the role but was unavailable. Instead, the “Girls” star will go boyish as Peter. Examples of Williams’ singing are numerous on the web, notably her cover of Kanye West’s “Stronger” on “Girls.” (Lyrics not suitable for the younger Peter Pan audience.)

From the NBC release:

“Allison Williams is a major find,” said executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. “She will reinvent the iconic role of Peter Pan with her wit, her warmth, her dynamic flying and her wonderful musical abilities. The score will be sung beautifully and introduced to a whole new generation of families.”

“I have wanted to play Peter Pan since I was about three years old, so this is a dream come true,” said Williams. “It’s such an honor to be a part of this adventure, and I’m very excited to get to work with this extraordinarily talented team. And besides,” added Williams, “what could go wrong in a live televised production with simultaneous flying, sword fighting and singing?”

When a young man locks a young woman inside his art installation, a claustrophobic box made of TV screens blaring loud footage of death and decay, the viewer can’t help but root for the woman to burst out screaming. We expect her to react angrily at being subjected to the flood of violent, disturbing imagery. Instead she emerges, shaken and distraught, to exclaim, “you are so f***ing brilliant!”

The woman is played by Allison Williams, who really steps out from her pretty-girl role this season. The show is “Girls.” The scene illustrates the state of relationships that typify the series, where 20something women put themselves in abusive situations–physical, sexual and emotional–en route to finding themselves. We yearn for them to get it together, we know the continued life of the comedy depends on them not quite getting it together.

The HBO series “Girls,” a lightening rod for feminists, critics and cultural anthropologists when it debuted last season, returns even stronger and equally provocative on Jan. 13. Judging by the first four episodes, the new season contains more laugh-out-loud funny moments, the characters are well defined and the male characters get more prominence. The quest of a generation to define itself as unique beyond the parameters set by parents continues to fascinate.Read more…

Joanne Ostrow has been watching TV since before "reality" required quotation marks. "Hill Street Blues" was life-changing. If Dickens, Twain or Agatha Christie were alive today, they'd be writing for television. And proud of it.